"Aunt, your big nephew here currently has no job and no money, and people probably won't take a fancy to me anyway, so let's just forget it."
"Little Zhou, you have to have a little confidence in yourself. In your aunt's eyes, you've always been the best. Tell me the truth: these past few years, you've been so resistant to blind dates—are you just not interested in girls? If worst comes to worst, your Aunt can introduce you to..."
Before Aunt Jiang could finish, Jiang Nanzhou cut her off.
"Aunt, what are you talking about? I'm as straight as they come. To be honest with you, there's actually someone I've liked for a long time. It's just that she's too out of my league; I'm not good enough for her."
Jiang Nanzhou was practically speechless. If he didn't tell the truth now, he was afraid his aunt might actually try to fix him up with a guy. His aunt spent all day scrolling through Douyin and had a pretty open mind.
Aunt Jiang was indeed secretly considering that very idea, though she still broke out in a sweat while asking.
Upon hearing her nephew say he had a crush on someone, her gossip flame burned fiercely.
"Which girl is it? You've never mentioned dating anyone all these years. Just how out of your league is she that even a top-university graduate like you isn't good enough for her?"
Jiang Nanzhou kept his lips tightly sealed. No matter how Aunt Jiang pressed, he refused to spill the beans, and she even started to suspect he was just making things up off the cuff to brush her off.
Truth be told, Jiang Nanzhou wasn't lying. That girl had taken root in his heart, and no matter what he did, he couldn't forget her. Plenty of girls had chased him in college, but since his heart was already taken, he didn't want to lead anyone on only to let them down, which was why he had remained a single dog all this time.
That girl had been his classmate in middle school. The very first time he laid eyes on her, he was deeply captivated. In his heart, she was like a flower—strikingly beautiful and moving.
Throughout their three years in middle school, they hadn't exchanged many words; they were strangers yet familiar. Jiang Nanzhou had originally planned to confess his feelings to her after the high school entrance exams, but one day in the second semester of the third year, she stopped coming to school. In the end, he heard from a few people close to her that she had originally been a visiting student at their school and had now transferred back to the city to study. Even after the college entrance exams, during a middle school class reunion, he had heard others talking about how she had gone abroad with her whole family and would probably never come back.
That unexpressed confession remained forever buried in the deepest corner of his heart.
"Sigh, I don't care. Even if you do like someone now, aren't you still single? Just go take a look. Once you get to know her, you might just take a liking to her. It's settled, you have to go."
With that, Aunt Jiang walked inside, not even giving him a chance to object.
The lunch was thoroughly satisfying: steamed tiger grouper, braised pork ribs, along with the crabs, large prawns, and sea snails that his aunt and uncle had brought with them—all of them Jiang Nanzhou's favorites.
After resting a bit following lunch, Grandpa Jiang took the boat out with Uncle-in-law and Jiang Nanzhou to haul in the nets.
Uncle-in-law pulled the nets, Grandpa Jiang picked out the fish, and Jiang Nanzhou was in charge of untangling and packing the net. The three of them worked together with perfect tacit coordination.
The fishing net was packed to the brim, glittering golden under the sunlight.
Looking at today's catch, Uncle-in-law grinned so wide his back teeth showed. "Dad, we struck a bumper catch today! These yellow croakers must weigh twenty or thirty catties?"
"Easily. And those rabbitfish must be another fifty or sixty catties. This is the biggest haul I've netted all year long."
Rabbitfish, also known as mud-slipper fish, had a texture somewhat similar to pork. The meat wasn't tough and lacked small bones, so many parents liked to feed it to young children.
"Hauling in a net like this is really exhilarating. Dad, once I'm less busy in a couple of days, I'm coming back to help you pull the nets." Uncle-in-law still seemed unsatisfied.
Hearing the conversation between his grandfather and uncle-in-law, Jiang Nanzhou was also mulling things over. Now that he had a cheat code, being a fisherman at home to make a living shouldn't be a problem; he was already thoroughly exhausted by the work pressure in the big city.
Back home, they loaded up the fish Jiang Nanzhou had caught that morning, and Grandpa Jiang drove the electric tricycle with Jiang Nanzhou to town.
Normally, when the catch was small, Grandpa Jiang would sell it right at the dock, but today there was too much fish, so they had to deliver it to the seafood wholesale market. Several streets were lined with seafood storefronts where fish was purchased at wholesale prices.
Grandpa Jiang led Jiang Nanzhou to the shop run by an old friend's son.
Old Wu Seafood Wholesale. Old Wu had passed away some time ago from a cerebral hemorrhage, and the business was now run by Little Wu.
Wu Mingdong was busy bustling around the shop when he saw his father's old friend leading a young man inside. Wu Mingdong immediately stepped forward to welcome them.
"Uncle Jiang, it's been a good while since you last came by."
Back when Old Wu was alive, Grandpa Jiang would haul his fish straight here whenever he had a lot, or drop by after selling them when the catch was small, just to drink tea and chat with his old friend.
"If I didn't reel in any good fish, what would I come here for? That'd just be bringing you trouble."
"Uncle Jiang, what kind of talk is that? I grew up watching you, what trouble could there possibly be?"
Grandpa Jiang introduced Jiang Nanzhou and Wu Mingdong to each other.
Looking at the grown young man before him, Wu Mingdong felt a wave of emotion. Time really flew.
"Little Zhou is already this big? The last time I saw him, he was just a kid."
Jiang Nanzhou didn't have much recollection of Wu Mingdong, but he still greeted him politely. He used to see Old Wu quite often when he was little; it was a pity he would never get to see him again.
"Hello, Uncle Wu. Grandpa and I went out to sea today, and the catch isn't bad. It's out in the cart—have a look and see if you'll take them."
"I'll take them. I buy all kinds of fish."
Jiang Nanzhou unloaded all the fish. At the sight of them, Wu Mingdong froze in surprise—there was even a large tiger grouper and several sea bass. The grandfather and grandson certainly had incredible luck.
As it happened, a customer had just mentioned wanting a fresh tiger grouper for a family banquet. He snapped a photo of the live-water tank and sent it straight to that client.
The wholesale price for yellow croaker was 22 yuan per catty, totaling 38 catties for 836 yuan.
Rabbitfish went for 10 yuan a catty, totaling 55 catties for 550 yuan.
Sea bass normally wholesale for around 30 yuan, but because the ones Jiang Nanzhou brought were still kicking and full of life, the price was a bit higher at 35 yuan a catty, totaling 23 catties for 805 yuan.
Tiger grouper was 48 yuan a catty, and this single fish unexpectedly weighed a whopping 16.6 catties, coming to 799 yuan.
The total came to 2,990 yuan. Unfortunately, Wu Mingdong had used up all his cash purchasing stock earlier today.
"Uncle Jiang, I'm out of cash on hand. Let me transfer the money to Little Zhou via WeChat."
Grandpa Jiang always used a basic senior phone; Aunt Jiang had bought him a smartphone before, but no matter how they tried to teach him, he never learned how to use it.
"That's fine, just transfer it to him."
By the time they got home, the sun had already set, and his aunt and uncle had also returned to their own place.
When the family heard that they had made close to three thousand yuan today, everyone beamed with joy. If not for the overwhelming amount of leftovers from lunch, they would have definitely whipped up a few more dishes to celebrate.
That night, lying in bed, Jiang Nanzhou looked at the WeChat transfer record Wu Mingdong had sent him, and somehow, he found it hard to fall asleep.